Thursday, September 9, 2010

Gluten Free Pasta Recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup

Homemade gluten free chicken noodle soup... or also known as chicken pastry in Eastern NC

Before going gluten free I had never attempted to make homemade pasta. Why bother if you could pick up a box of spaghetti noodles at the store on the way home? Most days I still feel that way. Thank GOODNESS for Tinkyada.

When I moved to Eastern NC for college one of the first local foods I learned about was chicken pastry. I had never heard of this dish. My mother made chicken & dumplings when I was growing up. The dumplings were basically biscuits that were added to a mixture of chicken broth and cream of chicken soup and they were allowed to "bake" on top of the soup in a covered pot. They were light & fluffy and soaked in that delicious chicken broth. It still brings back good memories.

Eastern NC's answer to my mom's chicken & dumplings is chicken pastry. Basically thick noodles cooked in chicken broth. These noodles are usually either homemade or bought in the freezer section of North Carolina grocery stores. A popular brand to buy is Anne's, which are marketed as flat dumplings. But don't call them dumplings, my mother-in-law wouldn't have the slightest idea what you were talking about.

Turns out making homemade noodles, pasta, or pastry as we say in Eastern NC... it's not hard. It took me less than 20 minutes to mix the dough and roll out the noodles for our soup last night. 20 minutes. It would take that long to cook a box of pasta (which on most nights, trust me... I'd rather do!)

Making homemade gluten free pasta. I rolled the dough out by hand and cut the strips with a pizza cutter.

This recipe is a variation of Thomas's gluten free pasta for pierogies. It's a simple dough and the recipe just works well. I've made this probably 10-12 times now and each time... it makes great noodles. If you have a pasta machine the dough would work beautifully with it.

I make the dough, divide it into three balls and quickly roll it out into thick strips of pasta. You could make ravioli, spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine... basically any kind of gluten free pasta you want. It's versatile, easy and quick.

Personally I like thick chicken pastry best. Basic chicken soup with thick homemade noodles. I added a can of mixed vegetables and cooked, diced chicken to make a complete meal. Meals like this are pure comfort food to me. Don't be intimidated by fresh noodles. You can make homemade gluten free chicken noodle soup in 35 minutes. Why aren't you headed to the kitchen?

Gluten Free Chicken Noodle Soup/ AKA Chicken Pastry with mixed vegetables.
The noodles take less than 5 minutes to cook!

Easy Gluten Free Pasta Recipe

free of gluten, dairy, and soy

adapted by Carrie @ www.gingerlemongirl.com from this recipe by Thomas of GF/CF Experience

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the eggs, margarine, and milk. Stir the wet & dry ingredients together until you get a ball of thick, slightly sticky dough. Divide the dough into three balls. Sprinkle a flat, dry surface with brown rice flour so the pasta doesn't stick when you roll it out. I like to use a silpat mat or a flexible cutting board. Place your ball of dough in the center of your flat surface. Sprinkle the top of the dough with additional brown rice flour. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the ball of dough. Roll out the dough into a wide, flat rectangle (as seen in the 2nd picture above). Cut strips of pasta (using a pizza roller) as thick or as thin as you want them. Place them on a plate and continue rolling out your balls of dough. Make sure to use more brown rice flour if you need too to prevent the noodles from sticking.

To COOK gluten free pasta:

Drop the pasta into hot boiling water or broth and cook for 5-8 minutes until pasta is the texture you desire. Drain & rinse the pasta to use with sauces. Leave the pasta in the broth for soup.

For Quick Gluten Free Chicken Noodle Soup:

Heat 32 oz. of chicken stock/broth in a soup pot. Add 1-2 cups of cooked chicken, a drained can of mixed vegetables. Heat the soup until boiling and then add 1 batch of gluten free pasta. Cook for 5-8 additional minutes until pasta is cooked to your liking. Serve immediately.

Carrie's Notes:

Be GENTLE with the pizza cutter if you're using a silpat mat, you don't want to cut your mat. I usually place an additional piece of plastic wrap on top of the silpat mat to prevent cutting it.

You know I love whole grain flours, but I think in this recipe you could use your favorite gluten free flour mix in place of the 1 cup of gluten free flour called for, just make sure it's not a baking mix with leavening... unless you want really puffy pasta!

For the margarine -- I used earth balance soy free margarine. I don't see why it wouldn't work with simply using olive oil or coconut oil though. Try it and see if you're opposed to margarine.

I will have to give this recipe a try. My first attempt at making noodles (with a different recipe) did not go very well. I ended up with a bunch of 1/2" squares of mush. Maybe it was because I let them dry & then froze them, like I used to do with regular noodles I used to make. Not sure, but I'll keep trying till I find the right recipe.Judy

Momnivore & Sea - if you want to try gluten free pasta without the eggs, Heidi of Adventures of a Gluten Free mom just posted a recipe! http://www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com/2010/09/allergy-friendly-pasta-dough-and-a-few-mini-pops-winners/

Your soup looks so tasty and comforting. I'm with you--very thankful for Tinkyada. When I first went gf 10 years ago the selection of gf pasta was not so great. I learned to make my own, but I gave that up when I started finding really good pasta at the store. I found a pasta machine that rolls the dough to be very helpful because I could never roll it to an even thickness. I would end up with overdone thin pieces and underdone thick ones. Great job on your noodles. They look tasty.

My 6yr old daughter is gluten/dairy free. With my brother's help yard sales etc, we recently aquired a pasta maker/ mixer ($5.00) and an old fashion, metal, hand crank one ($1.00). Gf pasta is sooo expensive and you just can't find egg noodles at all! I'm going to try this recipe asap. Thank you for this webpage!!Kim